


The Children of Kaine: Prologue 2

by KPenDragon



Series: Children of Kaine Saga [2]
Category: Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Other, intersex clone, pheromone induced heat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 14:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7643398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KPenDragon/pseuds/KPenDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even with Agent Venom down for the count, the Web Warriors keep going on. But Scarlet Spider has been feeling on edge lately as his list of secrets keeps growing longer. Will he find release, or is the tension about the snap back violently?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This happens sometime after _Force of Nature_ and before _The New Sinister Six_. I just felt the canon time jump was too much time unseen with too many things done off screen, but at the same time it gave me ample room to build up some things. So this might end up being much longer than the previous part too. This was also written before _The Symbiote Saga_ aired, so some details don’t match up with facts we learn THEN but don’t fret, it will be sorted out to match up later on. Also HUGE thanks to MexCraziness for being my beta reader.

It returned to business as usual around S.H.I.E.L.D. after the Hydro-Man debacle. The Spiders were out on a routine patrol, searching for any signs of Ock or his buddies scurrying about. Scarlet knew they'd find nothing, not that he'd say that out loud or even confirm how he knew that of course. But knowing that, it only added to the buzz of agitation he had been feeling for the past couple weeks. He was restless being cooped up aboard the Triskellion, but be didn't want to go off on his own even though these futile team recon missions drove him up a wall. He was constantly itching in his skin with no way to distract himself from the monotony life was dealing him at the moment, and when you were a costumed crusader, monotony was usually the last problem you were supposed to have.

"Hey watch it!"

He was startled out of the introspection as Iron Spider yelled at him. Thankfully it was enough of a warning to stop the two from a full on collision in mid air. He released his web line and dropped a few feet before sending out another to regain his forward momentum, thus being the last to touch down on the rooftop now.

"What was that all about??" Cho demanded, "You all saw that right? Scarlet Spider was clearly out of formation."

"Would you give it a rest," he snapped, "Maybe you should look where you're going next time."

"I was," came the flat reply, "How about you?"

Both Spidermen exchanged a look, not sure if they should or even wanted to try to jump into the middle of this to try to diffuse the tension. Scarlet Spider and Iron Spider had been tearing into one another lately over various things. Who ate the last Poptart, who used the last vial of web solvent, why was there a wolverine in the kitchen (that one had been Squirrel Girl's fault actually); you know some typical roommate dramas. But it'd been getting worse since Venom was taken out of commission, and very dangerous to get in the middle of.

"All that fancy tech and you couldn't predict aerial maneuvers that differed from your precious little plans huh?"

"Well, aren't you supposed to have spider sense to warn you of potential dangers, like crashing into teammates, or is that another variation in your biology you've been neglectful to share with us?"

Scarlet growled, fists clenching hard. Since Cho had found out about his natural webbing (apparently no one had told him even though it clearly wasn't a secret), he'd been dead set on getting at least a tissue sample from him, if not a full physical examination. And that was something he was dead set on not letting happen. He had avoided the physical and tissue typing thus far only because Fury was still absent and Spiderman failed to realize it was a mandatory thing S.H.I.E.L.D. required to assess their agents (and students) as well as to keep on file for body identification if the need came up. There were many reasons he was set against letting that happen, but the more Cho pushed, the harder it was to avoid it. And that just added to his agitation levels.

"Look _Cho_ if you got something you wanna say, just say it to my face or shut up."

"Oh, I've got plenty to say _Ben_ ," the name sounded like an accusation, a threat even.

He hissed through gritted teeth at that, "Don't you..."

"Ok, ok, hey you two," Peter stepped in now, getting between the two bristling teenagers, his leaderly instincts telling him to stop this finally, "We're all friends here right, no need to go biting each other's heads off you know."

The red spiders didn't loosen up or stand down.

"Ok...so, we all need to work on communication and looking both ways before we cross webs, not a big deal. Now why don't you two just shake hands and we can all go back to being friends who don't want to rip each other apart, ok?"

"Yeah, I'll pass."

"Well that figures."

"Excuse you Cho," Scarlet hissed.

"You aren't very forthcoming with the information, so of course you wouldn't be in favor of any communal compromise."

"I've told you, all of you, everything you need to know, alright. It's not my fault you punks don't communicate with one another."

Iron Spider was about to respond, but held back after catching a look from Spiderman warning him not to.

"You know, forget this," Scarlet huffed, turning away, "You don't want me, fine. I never wanted part of this team dynamic in the first place. Have fun on your pointless patrols without me."

No one tried to stop him as he leapt from the building; maybe if he delayed his web line they would have noticed, but probably not. It didn't matter, he didn't want to deal with them right now, and they obviously didn't want to deal with him, so it was a win all around.

Miles watched until the red spider was out of sight, "Should someone go after him?"

"Why should we waste our time on him?" Cho huffed, "He's the one storming off like a child."

"Lay off Cho, he's dealing with a lot right now."

The other two looked at Miles now.

"How would you know?" Peter didn't doubt that, he could sense it in his teammate, thus why he'd been trying to give him a wide enough berth to deal with it himself. But the younger spider knew how???

"You guys didn't see him when he found out about Venom," he said a little quietly, this being the first time telling the others about that moment because at the time it'd seemed really personal, "I don't know what's going on between them or whatever, but it really got to him, and he's been more on edge ever since."

"Ben and Flash are friends? Since when??"

"I guess that makes sense," Peter thought about it for a moment, "The two have been bonding with sparring practice, and Ock sorta had a hand in making them both, so maybe Ben just feels more comfortable with him." He couldn't really picture anyone being that comfortable with Flash, but it wasn't completely insane.

"I guess," Cho admitted but still wasn't ready to back down, "But he's still clearly not telling us everything."

"Well do you, because I sure don't tell you guys everything. No offense, but a guy needs some privacy sometimes."

Miles had a point that neither of them could refute. It was just an occupational hazard when you were a super hero, when you were a team. Scarlet Spider had come a long way since he had joined up, but yeah, after Venom went down he seemed to have reverted back a little bit. It was a slow process, and it just seemed like he would need some more time.

"Come on guys," Peter stepped up to the edge, "Lets finish up here then head back to the Triskellion."

"What about Scarlet?"

"He'll come back when he's ready, just like he always does."  
\---  
The problem with storming off alone was that now you were alone; it also usually meant that you had nowhere to go. That was certainly the case right now for him. Scarlet didn't really want to be alone right now, but at the same time he didn't want to be around his teammates either. Cho had just pushed all the wrong buttons for him earlier (not that it was that hard these days). There were too many questions he couldn't answer, that if he didn't answer would cause suspicion. Part of him was starting to wish Ock would speed up his timetables so he could stop doing this, and yet another part...

He was jarred from his thoughts as he suddenly found himself lacking webbing from his right wrist. His spider sense screamed at him about the impending fall. He tried again, but no webbing came. As a last stitch effort he managed to get enough of a stream from his left wrist to pull him towards a store awning, where he unceremoniously crashed through the striped canvas into a collection of fold up wooden tables and chairs.

He groaned as he pulled himself out from the entanglement of broken furniture, ignoring the yelling in non-English from what was most likely the owner of the eatery he'd just crashed into. He managed to mumble something along the lines of "S.H.I.E.L.D. will pay for it" before he ran off. He wasn't sure if anyone gave chase, he didn’t give them any chance to.

First alley he could find he ducked into and started climbing the wall; thankfully that ability was still working fine. Once safely on the rooftop he slid down to sitting, holding his middle as he doubled over in pain. His stomach was cramping something fierce; the fall hadn't been anywhere bad enough to cause that though, and his period was still several weeks away. It must have had to do with his web shortage, it was the only thing that made sense; after all he had only really run out of webbing a few times before when he'd forgotten to eat. How long had it been since he'd last eaten? That had to be it. But it still left him stranded downtown in New York City.

Once the cramps subsided enough he took a real look around where he was, trying to figure out the best course of action. He had no money, so pretty much all forms of public transportation were out of the question. He didn't exactly wear civilian clothing under his suit (skin tight double layered nanomesh, who could wear another layer under that?), so hoofing it was also not that advisable. His webbing was still not cooperating, so he needed to find a viable course of action fast. The sign for a homeless shelter caught his eye, so a quick hop across two rooftops and a shimmy down a fire escape got him to their donation box that was left on the side of the building in an alley. It really didn't take much force (spider strength aside) to get the metal box open. He grabbed the first few pieces of clothing at hand, and one quick change later, Ben was walking out on the street in torn jeans and a faded blue hoodie.

No one gave him a second look dressed like that. Who would after all; street kids were common enough, plus with a hood up his scar was less noticeable, so he was virtually unknown. And thus he made his way down the street, trying to get his bearings as he figured out what to do next.

"Peter Parker??"

He froze sometime later hearing someone call that out. He hadn't quite realized he was passing in front of the Daily Bugle building now, but he did as he slowly looked around and saw a red haired teenage girl trying to flag him down. He took a breath and lowered his hood; the look of confusion flashed across her face as realization dawned on her, her mistake.

"Oh," she stepped up to him, "I'm sorry, I thought...well you look like a friend of mine."

"It's alright," he was just going to drop it at that, but then an idea struck him, "Peter Parker right?"

"Yeah, you know him?"

"He's my cousin."

"Oh, oh! Wow," she chuckled, "Small world. I'm Mary Jane Watson, I used to live down the street from Peter, his aunt and uncle."

"So you know where they live then?"

"I, yeah, don't you?"

"Not off the top of my head no," he grinned a little sheepishly, playing up the lost tourist angle, "See, I sort of lost my phone on the train, and that had all of the numbers and directions to Aunt May's, so I've been wandering a little lost."

"Oh man, that totally sucks."

"I know right."

"Well I'm heading home from work right now," she thumbed back at the building she had just exited, "Just a mild mannered intern at the Bugle."

"That's pretty cool."

"I know right. Oh but the point, right. No, I'm headed home, so if you want I can give you a ride to May's."

"I wouldn't want to cause you any trouble."

"Pft, it's no big deal," she waved it off, but then put on a serious face, "Though my dad did always say never get into cars with strange boys. So Mr. Parker," she offered her hand, "Mary Jane Watson, intrepid reporter. And you are?"

"It's...Reilly actually, Ben Reilly," it was weird how natural that felt and sounded, but at the same time distancing him from Spiderman was for the best.

"Well Ben Reilly," she firmly shook his hand then pointed down the block, car keys in hand, "Bugle garage is that way, shall we try to beat the traffic out to Queens?"

"Don't know how well we will be able to beat it, but lead on."

She chuckled as he fell into step with her, "You just gotta think positively and things will go your way."

"And if they don't?"

"Well then you make it. Think positive and work hard, that way nothing will ever be out of your reach."

He wasn't so sure about that sentiment, but he humored the girl. The drive from the city took well over an hour thanks to the traffic, and the girl just kept on talking the whole way. Retelling various stories about the Bugle, most of them involving coffee runs through superhero battles. He politely pretended to listen, nodding and going "mmhmm" at the appropriate cues, as well as refraining from correcting a wrong detail or two when it came to the stories with the battles he'd actually been a part of. When they finally got to the house he thanked her for her help, assured her he would file a police report for his missing phone, and that she should hurry home because he really felt bad for making her go out of her way like this for him. With that she was more than happy to go.

Once the car was out of sight he turned back to the house. May's car was missing, so no one was home. He went around the house, going for the first floor kitchen window. Getting in was easy enough, and yes the house was empty. He let out an audible sigh before falling onto the couch, letting go of all the knotted tension he'd been holding in since the crash.

He should really go eat something, get his webbing back, and head back to the Triskellion before anyone noticed he was here. He should really go check in with Ock, find out what's going on and see if he could give him a once over to make sure there wasn't anything more going on with him that would affect his webbing. He should really do a lot of things, but right now he suddenly felt extremely tired.

So instead he feel asleep on May Parker's couch in the middle of the day.


	2. Part 2

The touch was very light on his shoulder, a gentle shake trying to rouse him. He really didn’t want to leave the comfortable darkness of unconsciousness, but the nudging was persistent enough, and now there was a soft voice with it,

“Ben, Ben, it’s time to wake up dear.”

He might have mumbled something akin to “5 more minutes” before his senses fully kicked back in and he sat up with a jerk. May Parker was crouched in front of him, having been the touch and voice that had roused him, and now a bit surprised by his sudden jolt.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“No, I, you didn’t,” he fumbled over his words, the last edges of sleep fading away, “What time is it?”

“It’s a little past three. Did you have a good nap?”

“I…” he was a bit embarrassed by that, “Sorry about this.”

“There’s no need,” she pat his knee reassuringly before she stood up, “Ben _Reilly_ huh?”

He actually blushed in embarrassment at that, “I take it the neighbor girl called you…”

“She just wanted to let me know that my _nephew_ got to the house safely.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean any disrespect,” he stood now too to strengthen his point, “I got stranded, and I wasn’t sure what to do, and she just ambushed me, and-”

She chuckled softly and rest a hand on his shoulder, making him stop mid explanation. “It’s alright Ben, really. As far as I’m concerned, you are family, and you’re always welcomed here.”

“Do you really mean that?”

“Of course I do,” she smiled softly, pat his shoulder, then turned to the kitchen, “So how about a snack?”

“I really…” he started to decline, but then remembered his lack of webbing just as his stomach actually gave a very audible growl, “That actually sounds like a great idea, thank you.”  
\---  
The first thing he could feel was a sense of…emptiness. Not the normal emptiness that the darkness should offer, not the comfortable sense of ease, but just…aloneness. Something was missing, something important.

There was a loud beeping in his ear as he realized something was missing; heart racing in time with the electronic blip. He tried to move, to get away from it, but when he tried to sit up he hit something hard, causing a yelp of pain and surprise; then followed a groan as the sudden movement caused his whole body to ache.

“Man…I haven’t felt this bad since regionals,” he mumbled, trying to reach up to hold his bumped head, only to still find the barrier above him, “What the…?”

Finally he opened his eyes and was genuinely surprised to see a glass dome over him. How had he…what was he…?

Then the memories started to filter back in. Flash, Agent Venom, had been in a fight with some white symbiote thing that had gotten stuck on Harry Osborn. Seems he’d lost, but they won? He sort of remembered that they won that fight, but he’d gotten hurt badly, and Venom…he couldn’t feel the presence of the symbiote at the back of his thoughts like he usually could, and if the aches he was feeling now were any indication, it wasn’t fixing him up like usual either. Was Venom really gone? What happened to him, and Osborn, and Spidey, and Scarlet…wait no, Scarlet wasn’t in that fight, was he? No…but then why was he worrying about him? What had happened to him?

Even though the glass obscured his vision, he could see shapes moving outside the tube he was in. Since he couldn’t really move much, all he could do is lie there and wait for someone to let him out it seemed.

“Getting really bored here,” he finally said as the fourth different colored blur moved by him, “Can anyone hear me or what?”

There was now a crackling pop by his ear, but then a voice came in clear,

“We can hear you Flash, sorry about that.”

“Dude, Doc Connors. What is going on, why am I under glass like fancy cheese?”

“What is the last thing you remember?”

“Um…Spidey, Osborn, and me were fighting Ock, and he made a thing that took over the newbie and tried to eat me.”

“That’s…actually a pretty accurate account of what happened, more or less.”

“Ok. So…can I get out of this now or what?”

“Flash, I’m afraid you were very badly injured in the fight. You’ve been in a coma for nearly four weeks.”

“Oh. Well…I’m all rested up now. So you can let me off the bench coach.”

“That’s the thing Flash, you’re not. You were very badly injured in the fight, you both were.”

“Both…?” then it clicked; the empty feeling, the lack of the other’s presence in his mind.

“We haven’t been able to find any large traces of the symbiote in your system. There’s a very realistic chance that there might not be enough left for it to regenerate.”

Venom was gone, like really gone, forever? But…Venom always came back, and…he was “one with Venom” right? If it was gone, what did that mean for him? Was he going to die? Was he going to have to leave S.H.I.E.L.D.?

“It’s taken a big toll on your immune system too,” Connors kept speaking, “Without the symbiote to boost it or your healing factor, recovery from your injuries is going to be slower than they should be due to your body needing to learn how function without the Venom supplements.”

“So…am I done for good Doc?”

“What? No, no I don’t think so. Your recovery is just going to take time Flash. I’m sure once you’re all healed, you can go back to…uh, football was it?”

“But Venom…”

It took a few moments for the doctor to respond to him over the intercom.

“That, I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s…it’s ok Doc,” it really wasn’t, but what else could he do or say right now? All he really wanted to do was get out of this glass box and stretch and try not to think about how much his life was going to suck now that he couldn’t be a superhero anymore. “So how about getting me out of this thing?”

“As I said Flash, your immune system has been compromised without Venom’s presence. You’re in a sterile environment right now for your own protection while you recuperate.”

“Can you just give it to me straight Doc? Remember who you’re talking to.”

He didn’t have to hear it to know the doctor was giving an exasperated sigh at that.

“You came in with several broken bones and a concussion. Luckily, it seems there’s been no brain damage. So now that you’ve regained consciousness…”

“You got no idea, do you?”

“It really depends upon if your immune system will balance itself out or not. If we let you out now, there’s a chance a simple cold could kill you.”

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry Flash.”

“No, no, I get it Doc. Just trying to, you know, keep me not dead and stuff.”

“We could put you into a medically induced coma to help speed up your recovery, that way you wouldn’t be laying around bored the entire time.”

“Can I think about it?”

“Of course you can. Is there anything else I can do you for right now?”

“I dunno, sorta stuck in a germ-free box…can I talk to my friends?”

“I’ll go see if I can find any of them.”

“Thanks Doc.”

He saw the last blobby form move away, so he assumed he was alone now. He sighed, closing his eyes (since he couldn’t do much of anything else after all) and resigned himself to waiting, thinking about what he should do now if he would never be Agent Venom again.


	3. Part 3

It was weird how at ease and comfortable it felt sitting in the Parkers’ kitchen, listening to Aunt May talk about this or that as she fried up some weird sounding grilled cheese on some health-nut bread (organic food and weird soy cheese what?). And yet the food was good, and the company better. Ben actually participated in the conversation rather than tuned it out like he had with Mary Jane earlier. He didn’t have much to offer, or know about half the people she was talking about, but oddly enough, he enjoyed just being around May.

All of that evaporated in an instant though when his comm. beeped at him.

“Yeah, what do you want?”

_“Scarlet Spider, its Dr. Connors. You wanted to know when Agent Venom woke up.”_

And that was the end of the nice quiet visit. Aunt May offered to drive him to the docks where he hopped a ride on one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s guard-boats to get back to the Triskellion. He still wasn’t that sure his webbing would hold out, plus this was convenient enough and it gave him more time to think about his next move.

Flash was awake, but how much had he remembered or said so far? He hadn’t been to seen him since that first day; there really was no need, he found out the odds and then chose to keep his distance. Of course, he’d asked the doctor to inform him when the jock woke up; that was because he was a concerned friend…and not trying to cover his own self interests. Still, Flash was awake…he was going to be ok…

He half jogged down the hallways of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, knowing he’d lost too much time as it was; if Flash had said anything, he would have by now. He still needed to get there as fast as he could, he had to know how much trouble he was in, but also…he just needed to know that the kid was alright.

“Whoa, hey watch where you’re going Ben!”

It took a split second maneuver to avoid crashing into Nova and Miles as he rounded a corner; it was the later that had yelped at the near collision.

“Don’t call me that!” he yelled back over his shoulder.

“Yeah, well you look stupid!” Nova yelled after him, but he either didn’t hear or didn’t care.

The med bay was the same as it always was really, nothing really caught the eyes from the last time he was in here. Osborn was still in a suspension chamber with no changes, and Flash was still on the same berth under glass. He almost thought maybe calling him was a mistake, because the teen didn’t seem to have changed at all, he still looked completely still, but after a moment he caught a clear movement that meant the kid was awake, just restricted by his container. 

He let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, and then headed over towards Dr. Connors.

“Hey Doc, so he’s awake and talking?”

“Yes he is. Just give me a moment and I’ll,” the older man looked up now and accidentally did a double take, “Oh, wow, never seen you without your mask.”

“Uh, yeah, just trying something new,” he really hadn’t felt that naked up until that point; he made the mental note that the next stop after this was the dormitory so he could change back into his suit. “So can I talk to him?”

“Of course,” Connors led him over to the berth, pointing out the intercom button, “Most of the others have popped in for a chat already, so don’t be surprised if he’s a bit tired out.”

Great, so he’s been talking to the others…that means he could have told Spiderman-Peter-about what had happened. He didn’t voice that though obviously, he just nodded his thanks and waited for the doctor to move off before he tried to talk to the encased boy.

Apparently he took too long to find the right words, because the blonde below opened his eyes, realizing there was a shape outside his dome, watching him rather creepily.

“Uh, hello, can I help you?”

“What? Oh, uh,” then he remembered he needed to press the button, “Sorry about that.”

“Dude, is that you Scarlet? Where’d all the red go bro?”

A faint ghost of a smirk played on his lips at that, “Yeah, thought I’d try dressing down in some street clothes today.”

“No mask either? Man, wish I could see that. This bubble’s got me feeling like I’m in a fishbowl you know? Can’t see nothing but colored blobs.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault Scarlet.”

A bit of a pang there; it might actually be. “Uh, it’s sort of Ben now Flash, Ben Reilly.”

Flash grinned at that, “So the sewer rat got a name while I was napping.”

Ben actually smirked at that as he rolled his eyes. He must not have remembered, if he had, he wouldn’t be this willing to joke around with him (he wouldn’t after all).

“So, uh Scar-I mean Ben,” Flash’s tone got a little unsure, and Ben’s smirk quickly washed away, “So, you ok bro?”

“I…what do you mean?” he tried to pick his words carefully.

“Well like, we were sparring before I got hurt right. I was mad at Osborn stealing Spidey away, and you came to the training room…”

“Yes…”

“And I don’t know, we were going at it hard, cause I think I blacked out. I know you hit hard, but I just wanted to make sure I didn’t hit you back harder?”

He wasn’t sure how to react to that. Was he testing him? Did he really remember and just wanted to hear him admit it? Or did he really not remember and was fishing? Could he sense that something was wrong? Flash wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but he had also received some massive head trauma from the fight. So maybe…

“Don’t worry about it,” it was the most honest answer he could give without giving anything away. He didn’t want him to worry about it, whether he remembered or not, because he didn’t want to think about it either. So it was better if neither of them worried about it.

“You sure bro?”

“Yeah. You just worry about getting out of the fish bowl, because you owe me a rematch.”

Flash snorted, “What, think you’d have an easy time with me on a handicap, yeah right. I’m still gonna beat you down to the mat like always.”

“In your dreams maybe,” he tried to keep his tone light for his sake; he couldn’t reveal just how hard his heart was pounding in his ears, screaming at him to cut and run now before he slipped up, “Speaking of, you should probably get some rest.”

“Dude, I’ve been asleep for weeks apparently.”

“Yeah, well, gotta get you back to 100%, or whatever.”

“Yeah, I guess…”

Ben wasn’t really sure what other reassurances he could give. Wasn’t it more beneficial to Ock’s plan if he stayed down; wouldn’t he feel more comfortable if he stayed out of the way when the endgame came?

Someone was trying to get his attention; a quick look up proved it to be Spiderman actually. Good, a way out of what was quickly becoming an awkward situation.

“Look Flash, I gotta go. You keep getting better, ok. The team’s not the same without you.”

“Yeah, a lot less pretty I’m sure,” the blonde chuckled a little.

Ben just shook his head. “See you later all star,” and with that he moved away, leaving Flash alone again.

Peter hadn’t been standing there for long, so he hadn’t caught the full exchange. After Aunt May had texted him saying she dropped Ben off on the docks, he figured this was where he’d find him.

“New look Ben?”

He just shot him a dirty look, “Can it. What do you want?”

“Just wanted to make sure you’re doing ok,” he fell into step with him as the two of them walked away from the med bay, “It’s what families do, since we’re apparently cousins now and what not.”

Ben rolled his eyes, “You talked to May.”

“It’s ok you know, because that’s what we are. The team is a family, and it’s ok to be on edge and worried when someone in your family gets hurt.”

He paused, making Peter stop along with him. “I don’t need to be psycho analyzed.”

“No, probably not, but you do need some downtime. I get it, needing to draw a line between work,” he waved at the hallway, meaning the base as a whole, “And your personal life. Why do you think I spend the weekends at my Aunt’s still.”

“I don’t have a personal life. This is my whole life.”

“And that’s your problem. You can’t be Scarlet Spider all the time; you’ll burn out if you do that. You gotta set some time aside to be Ben Reilly too.”

He looked away and down at that, hands shoved into the sweatshirt pockets. “I don’t really know who that is.”

“So? Here’s your chance to find out.”

He looked back up and saw Peter offering him what looked like a house key. He couldn’t help the skeptically arched eyebrow at that. “What am I supposed to do with that?”

“It’s a key to my house.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah man. It’s not the first time I’ve had the team bunk with me, and it really does help. Plus, Flash is gonna be out of commission for a while.”

That stung him more than it should have, but he didn’t show it.

“And I think he’d do a better job healing up in a real house instead of here.”

“Then send him home, doesn’t he have an actual family?”

“Yeah, that’s not really the best option…”

Ben looked down at the offered key again. “So let me get this straight, you want me and Flash to move into your house, with your aunt.”

“I’m gonna ask Miles too, you know, because the whole alternate dimension thing.”

“Not Cho?”

“Pft, naw, he loves it here. Will probably enjoy it way more without us invading his thinking space 24/7, or whatever.”

This was a pretty good opportunity; it proved that Peter was serious about trusting him, that revealing his identity hadn’t just been a heat of the moment thing…or that it was, but he was going to work to make it count. He was inviting him into his whole life now. It opened up so many options, and yet he hesitated, because as much as it would grant him access to the spider’s life, it left his own open for the others to see. He couldn’t exactly hide his pheromones if he wasn’t in his suit all the time, and he couldn’t hide his period if they were sharing a bathroom. But he could work around that maybe…

“Can’t guarantee I won’t still go off and not say anything about it.”

Peter scoffed, “Sure, go off and brood whenever, I won’t stop you. But Aunt May will probably set a curfew, and you do not want to get on her bad side, trust me.”

And he would have Flash…he would be around Flash more, so if his memory did return he’d know right away…

“Alright,” he took the offered key now, “I’m in.”

“Great! I’d say let’s go pack your stuff now, but…you don’t really have much stuff, so…”

“Don’t push your luck punk,” he huffed, shoving the key in his pocket then starting back down the corridor, the spider keeping pace, “Just remember who’s bright idea this was when there’s no hot water in the mornings.”


End file.
